Exclusive prices vs regular prices

It used to be that most Sideshow Exclusive items cost the same as their regular edition counterparts, so I almost always bought the exclusive which allowed SSC to earn a larger margin on my direct orders.

Over the last year or so the prices for exclusive editions are almost always more expensive than the regs.

With that said, how does Sideshow decide when to charge no extra $, or $5 extra or $10 extra?

I'm curious for example why the new SW Clone trooper PF to get the additional head and droid arm is simply $5 more when something like the 12" GI Joe Beachhead exclusive is $10 more! The PF head is much bigger than a 12" head, plus you get a droid arm that I assume will be made of polystone.

Further more, something simple like Hammerhead's staff, you still charge $5. All that is is a piece of plastic with no significant paint detail, if a PF head and droid arm is $5, shouldn't a little trinket be like $1?

If you think of it in percentages, its even more dramatic. An ex for a 12" figure runs you any where from 5% to 10% more. The ex for this most recent SW figure is less than 2%!

My point is the higher the difference between your ex and regular prices the more I am inclined to purchase through one of your retailers or even wait until I find the regular edition second hand or on clearance at a retailer. If you price ex editions more closely to the regulars, I would buy from you more often like I used to.

just me huh....lololol.

I think that Sideshow's dealer network is putting pressure on SS to make the price of the exclusive version higher than the regular. I think they are probably saying "How are we supposed to sell our items at retail, when customers can buy the exclusive direct at the same price?" Therefore, the small 'bump' to pacify their dealers.

I think it has less to do with actual manufacturing cost associated with the exclusive item, and more to do with political reasons. Because, in reality, Sideshow is making FAR more money direct, than they make selling basically the exact same item to a dealer. That small $10 to $15 charge for the exclusive item is already more than covered in the extra cash they make getting full retail on the item, versus the 60 to 65% they earn selling to dealers, so the reason must not be a financial one, but a political one.

Computerfly, that makes a lot of sense. The one thing that irritates me is how much some of the exclusives cost...For example, a print will be $10-15, when a switch-out part costs about the same. I would appreciate if Sideshow would drop the price on the print exclusives to something more sensible...I just don't feel I'm getting the bang for my buck there.

I can see the political reason computerfly, i also agree with sigep756 i don't get why some stuff is pricier than other stuff...

I have no problem paying 5-10$ extra for an exclusive. Now if it gets to be more than 30 than that's pushing it.

ComputerFly said:

I think that Sideshow's dealer network is putting pressure on SS to make the price of the exclusive version higher than the regular. I think they are probably saying "How are we supposed to sell our items at retail, when customers can buy the exclusive direct at the same price?" Therefore, the small 'bump' to pacify their dealers.

I think it has less to do with actual manufacturing cost associated with the exclusive item, and more to do with political reasons. Because, in reality, Sideshow is making FAR more money direct, than they make selling basically the exact same item to a dealer. That small $10 to $15 charge for the exclusive item is already more than covered in the extra cash they make getting full retail on the item, versus the 60 to 65% they earn selling to dealers, so the reason must not be a financial one, but a political one.

Click to expand...

Yup, you nailed that one.

That's still a financial (and not polical) reason though. If their pricing is bad business for their retailers, and they wish to keep the retailers, then they have to change their pricing. Manufacturing cost is probably the least critical factor in determining price. Value is, and that consideration extends to all parties involved.